Safety cut-out



' (NoModeL) I 2Sheets-8heet v M. KERSTEIN.

SAFETY GUT-OUT.

No; 470,382. Patented Mar. 8, 1892.

INVENTDR- m: NORRIS Peru: (10,, Worcmn-ncv. mwmamu, n. c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. KERSTEIN. SAFETY OUT-OUT.

Patented Mar. 8, 1892.

WITNEEEEE 0/2 W g ozafl U UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAX KERSTEIN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY CUT-OUT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 470,382, dated March 8, 1892.

Application filed June 3, 1891- Serial No. 395,486. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAX KERsTEIN, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Electric Wires, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to contrivanoes designed to secure safety in the event of breakage of overhead electric wires, and particularly the trolley-wires of electric-railway systems, by breaking connection between the falling end and the intact energized portion, and so insulating, as it were, the falling end from the live wire.

It is the object of the invention to provide such improvements in devices of the kind mentioned as will render them simple in and economical of construction and certain in the attainment of the result intended to be accomplished by their use.

The invention consists in constructing the power or energized wire in sections, connectingjthe sections by means of slip-joints so constructed and arranged as that they may be maintained in connected position by the ordinary tension on the wire, and combining with sections of wire connected as aforesaid two springs connected at one of their ends to the cross-wire or other supporting means and at'the other of their ends to one of the jointed sections, the said springs operating with a tendency to draw the section of the wire with which they are connected toward the end of the adjacent section, and so slip one part of the connecting-joint upon the other and disjoint or break the connection of the two sections, cutting OK the current from the falling end, and (the springs being insulated from the live wire) thus rendering falling portion harmless should it chance to fall upon another wire or upon any other object or person or animal.

Recourse is to be had to the annexed drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts or I features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention, showing so much of a power-wire and its support as is necessary to explain the improvement. Fig. 2 is atop plan view, partially in section, of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partially in section, on the line 3 3 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal vertical sectional view. Fig. 5 is a sectional end View taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4 and looking from left to right. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 6 6, Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one part of the slip-joint, and Fig. 8 is a similar view of the other part of said joint.

In this specification the invention is shown and described as applied to trolley-wires for electric cars, though it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that it may be quite as readily applied to other wires, such as wires used for electric lighting, the.

In the drawings, a designates the wire-supporting post, I) the cross-wire extending between two posts, and o the power or energized wire connected with and supported by the cross-w1re.

The power or trolley wire 0 is constructed in sections or divided at intervals, and the adjacent ends of the sections are provided with coupling parts of such construction and arrangement as will enable them to be maintained in connected or jointed position by the tension on the wire so long as the latter remains intact, but so as to be slipped one upon the other and disconnected or disjointed by means of spring-pressure the instant the wire becomes ruptured.

The form and arrangement of means whereby the jointing or coupling of the wires is maintained and broken may be greatly va ried. One of the various forms employed by me and found eiiicient is herein shown and will now be described in detail.

(Z designates a block composed of any suit- I able material, provided in its upper portion with ahcle for the reception of the end 6 of one section of wire, which end is passed through the said hole and bent up at its extremity, as at f, so as that the said block may be held in place on the said end, as will best be understood by an inspection of Figs. 3, 4, and 8. The block d has a groove g formed in its lower surface for the reception of the upper portion of tho bridge-piece 72., secured to the end 7: of the adjacent section of wire. A chamber j is also formed in the block (1 above the groove 9 and extends from the rear of said block to near its forward end.

it designates a block suitably secured to the end 2' of the wire to be coupled with theend e. The block 70 is provided on its forward end with a cross block or head Z, having in its upper edge, at a central point, a rounded notch m, in which the end e of the wire may rest when the two ends are coupled. As herein shown, the end 1) of thetrolley-wire is passed through a ring 1', forming an integral part of the bridge h and connected with the upper edge thereof, and then the said wire is passed around and through ahole 0', extending transversely through the bridge, as is best seen in Figs. 1 and 7 the said bridge extending under the block cl and end e when the ends are jointed or coupled.

Theblock 7c is of such form and size that it may be passed into the chamber j of the block at from rear to front until the crosshead Z is brought to rest against the rear end of the said block d. It will now be seen that if the ends e and 2' should be jointed or coupled by means of the blocks 01 and 7c and the wire should be stretched between two supports the said ends would remain coupled, and as the material forming the couplings is composed of an electrical conductive substance an unbroken conductor would be maintained; but should either of the coupling-blocks be moved upon the other in the direction of the arrows marked thereon in Figs. 7 and 8 (the other part remaining stationary) the block 70 would be slipped out of the ehamberj of block 61 and the sections would become uncoupled and the conductor would be broken.

'21 n designate two rods or wires, each connected at one end to the cross-wire b and at the other end to the cross-head Z of the block 7t.

Connected with the wires 71 at a point intermediate of their ends are helical springs 0,

which may (though not necessarily) be inclined in casings p to protect them against snow, ice, &c. Each wire n is also broken at one or more points, and the broken or divided 2 ends are connected by means of some suitable insulating material q, so as that one of the said divided ends may not be in electrical connection with the other.

With this construction and arrangement of parts it will be seen that when the wire 0 is intact and properly strung upon its supports tne joint of coupling parts d 70 will be maintained in connected or coupled place by the tension on the wire operating in a direction contrary to that indicated by the flight of the arrows in Figs. 7 and 8, while the springs 0 will operate with a tendency to draw the block in the direction of the arrow marked r-hereon and against the arrow indicated upon the block d. 7

It will be understood that a device like that shown to the left of the cross-wire b in Fig. 1

is also located to the right of the cross-wire, both being arranged comparatively close to the cross-wire or other support for the linewlre.

It will be understood that a device like to that shown in Fig. 1 may be provided on the opposite side of the cross or supporting wire b. It will also be understood that any form of spring that is capable of performing the function described with reference to the spring 0 would be the alternative equivalent of the latter. With this understanding it will be seen that should a rupture occur in-that section or partof the line-wire lettered t'- that is, beyond or to the left of the coupling,

as viewed in Fig. 1-the springs 0 0 will dis.-

engage the block 70 from the block 01 by slipping the former block out of the chamberj of the latter, the section 0 of the line-wire being stiff enough to holdthe block 70 against movement with the block d, thus breaking the electrical connection between the falling end and the supported section 1' and rendering the former end electrically harmless. line-wire should break between the slip joint f and the cross wi re, neither of the broken ends would be electrically disconnected from the intact part or sections of line-wire, but said 7 ends would be so short as that no harm would come from any possible drooping or sagging that might follow. If the line-wire should break to the right of the cross-wire, as viewed in Fig. 1, the device located on that-side of the cross-wire will operate upon that portion of the line-wire the same as has been de scribed with respect to the device and portion of the line-wire located to the left of the I cross-wire.

Other means than that shown maybe employed for attaching the blocks 61 and is to itheir respective ends of wire; but this and similar changes in the form and arrangement of parts would not be a departure from the nature of the invention.

I claim- 7 1. The combination, with an electric wire composed of sections and provided with slip joints to connect the sections, of supports for the said sectional wire and springs connected at one end to one of the said supports and at If the the other end to one member of the said slip joints, as set forth.

2. The combination, with an electric wire composed of sections and provided with slipjoints comprising the members d It to connect the sections, of supports forthe said sectional wire, and springs 0 0, connected at one end to one of the said supports and at the other end to one member of the said slip-joints, the said springs being insulated from the said support, as set forth.

3. The combination, with anelectric wire composed of sections and provided with slipjoints to connect the sections, the said joints. 1 0

comprising the parts dated 70, of a bridge h,

connected with the sections of wire and supported below the slip-joints, the cross-Wire 1), two subscribing witnesses, this 1st day of Wires n, connected at one end to the cross- June, A. D. 1891. wire I) and at the other to one of said joint parts, and springs 0 intermediate of the ends MAX kERSlEIN' 5 of the wires n, as set forth. Witnesses:

In testimony whereof I have signed my ARTHUR W. CROSSLEY,

name to this specification, in the presence of A. D. HARRISON. 

